Illusions of Death
by sirlagunalancelot
Summary: **CHAPTER 3 UP** After Lavos was defeated, everything was back to normal until Lucca suddenly disappears. It also seems that Magus has finally found Schala, but something is wrong.
1. Prologue

Chrono Trigger and anything that's in it is not mine... Everything else is! Enjoy!  
  
Illusions of Death  
  
Prologue  
  
Lucca sat on her bed and peered outside the tiny window to see the land soaked with rain.  
  
"It's been like this for days," she thought as she ran her hand through her silky, purple hair.  
  
"Ever since we defeated Lavos there didn't seem like a thing left to do. Now Crono's living with Marle in Guardia Castle, I wonder if they're enjoying themselves." She sighed as she remembered their wedding. After Lavos was destroyed, everyone went their seperate ways. Crono married Marle and became King of Guardia, Frog... no, Glenn, after avenging Cyrus, his best friend, became the royal protector of Guardia Castle. She paused for a moment and thought about Glenn. His bold eyes and muscular body, nothing like the Frog she was used to seeing at all. She dreamt about him a little while longer before sinking back into her miserable sea of thoughts. She thought about the Robos, one helping Fiona reviving her forest in the Middle Ages, the other one living peacefully with his girlfriend. She remembered Ayla, who married Kino and reclaimed the title of chief of Ioka. Then there was Magus, still searching for his beloved sister, Schala.  
  
Lucca looked back at her messy room, filled with books. She had almost bored herself to death trying to re-read them. She slowly got up and started to put on her tunic and glasses. Then she slipped in her cozy coat and put on a pair of slightly oversized boots.  
  
"Mom, I'm going to go for a walk!" She yelled to the opposite room.  
  
"Where are you going in this kind of weather? It's pouring outside!" Lara replied. Lucca remembered how her mother had almost suffered a fatal accident years ago, her father created a machine and one day when he wasn't at home, Lara tried to clean it. Her skirt had caught on and activated the machine, and if she had not traveled back in time to save her... Lucca paused there.  
  
"Crono and Marle's!"  
  
"Well, I can't stop you, but be careful!"  
  
"I will!" She reached for an umbrella and started for the door. Just then Taban appeared from the kitchen and handed her the Wondershot, a prism dress, and a gold earring.  
  
"Hey, Lucca! Take them with ya just in case somethin' happens. By the way, I upgraded that gun of yours, check it out, pretty nifty hun?" He asked as he returned to the refrigerator. She shut the door quietly behind her and looked ahead toward the wide ocean. Then she turned around and walked to the little bridge that connected her little island with the huge continent. The umbrella twirled gently under her fingers as she gazed up to the sky. The rain seemed to steady a little bit but the droplets of water still fell at a shocking rate. The wind blew in her hair as she started to run toward the castle.  
  
***  
  
"Lucca!" Marle jumped as she opened the door to her chamber. Crono appeared seconds later. He was wearing a new golden headband instead of the old, worn out white one. The new clothes he had on almost matched him perfectly. The flaming red and blue suit hung at his waist untucked, and his pants were made out of a kind of silvery silk that turns black under the moonlight.  
  
"Marle! Crono! It's been a while!"  
  
"Why didn't you come and visit?"  
  
"Well, you see..." Lucca stuttered, she ran her hand through her hair again trying to think up of a good reason.  
  
"Forget it, I'll go fetch some food." The princess dashed outside, her orange hair flowing behind her. Even though she is a princess, she sure didn't act like one. Lucca turned back to Crono as she sat on a nearby chair. She could see that something's bugging the teenage boy.  
  
"What's wrong?" She asked slowly. Crono shifted a little, he then removed his headband to let his bright, red hair fall down freely.  
  
"It's just that life here is so... complicated. I never imagined being king could be so tough! Now I know how Marle felt.  
  
"So it's getting you too, hun?" Then they heard a scream down the hall followed by a rushed apology.  
  
"At least I'm not alone" Lucca thought as she looked out the castle's gigantic glass window. It was still raining.  
  
"I'm back! Geez, what's with the silence?" She questioned as her necklace gleamed under the faint sunlight.  
  
"Oh, uh.. nothing, we're fine."  
  
"Jerky? The chef just got the recipe, you know!" Suddenly her radiant smile turned into a gloomy frown.  
  
"It's so boring here, there's nothing to do anymore except stare at the Rainbow Shell. Father won't let us out of the castle for some reason, he said using the Epoch isin't safe and he started to mutter about it malfunctioning."  
  
"You told him about the Epoch?!? Hmmm... maybe I should ask him if we can use the Epoch, after all, I am an inventor and I know a lot about machinery! By the way, where is the Epoch anyways?"  
  
"Father stored it somewhere in the castle."  
  
"Then I'll go ask him right now."  
  
***  
  
Lucca returned to the chamber happily and told them the good news. The trio grabbed their weapons and immediately raced for the Epoch.  
  
"Crono, will you do the pleasures?" Marle asked.  
  
***  
  
It was only a few minutes before they landed near the meeting site in Ioka.  
  
"Crono! Marle! Lucca! No see for long time! Ayla miss! After you leave, got warmer. Laruba people rebuild village." Their prehistoric team member led them into her small but warm hut where Kino greeted them. They chatted for a while about Lavos and when they left, Ayla gave them a bottle of sweet water. They boarded the Epoch again and headed for 600 AD. There they visited Glenn and Queen Leene. After that they flew above Robo as the yellow robot waved at them while watering the newly grown forest near Fiona's Villa. They made their final stops at Trann and Arris Dome where they said hello to their old friend Doan. On the way to Arris they met Robo again with his girlfriend.  
  
"They sure seem to be having fun." Lucca thought. They exchaged their farewells and see ya laters and went on their way.  
  
"That covers everyone... except Magus. But who knows where he is right now, it's impossible to find him even if we wanted to!" Marle exclaimed as they returned to their own time.  
  
It wasn't raining anymore when they got back. Instead, the place was shrouded in a thick fog. They docked the Epoch and returned to the castle where Lucca took her stuff and said goodbye to Crono and Marle. Her boots made a soft squishing noise as it came in contact with the wet grass. Suddenly, she heard another noise that was definately not her boots, it was followed by a ghostly moan. Lucca instantly knew that there was something wrong with this. She started to run when she heard the sound move closer. Suddenly, realizing she still has her Wondershot, the prism dress, and the gold earring, the frightened girl started shooting madly at whatever was in the mist. She noticed that the shooting had no effect at all, so she prepared to cast her deadly Flare. But just then, she felt a jolt of pain in her stoamach. Now she realized that this "thing" was stronger than her and she cannot deal with it alone. The umbrella slipped from her fingers and the coat fell on the damp grass. She ran towards her home with all her strength. Through the forest surrounding the castle, out into the open fields and onto the bridge. There she stopped to catch her breath, all the dashing made her feel faint.  
  
"I (pant) finally made (wheeze) it. I'm safe (cough) now." Or so she thought...  
  
Then, she heard the same noise with the same moan, it came closer like before, only this time she could make out a faint glow. Lucca started running again, but unaware that her house was to the south, she bolted back for the forest. Halfway, she stumbled over her umbrella and crashed onto the ground, too tired to even care if she was chased by a "thing" anymore, possibly even more powerful than Lavos itself. Her eyes closed slowly as she drifted off into a deep sleep.  
  
The mist disappeared and so did the persuing glow, but although it did, the only thing visible was the worn out girl.  
  
- Flaming Inferno  
  
For all of you who are so kind as to read this... PLEASE R&R!!! Also, please excuse the horrible usage of words since it is my first fic. 


	2. Search for Lucca

Chrono Trigger and anything that's in it is not mine... Everything else is! Enjoy!  
  
Illusions of Death  
  
Chapter 1: Search for Lucca  
  
Warm beams of light shone on Crono's face as he felt a light tapping on his left arm. He opened his eyes slowly to see Marle standing by him. Her face was bent into a worried look as she left his side to open the velvet curtain.  
  
"Lucca is missing! Lara and Taban informed us that she never returned home! I told them about the trip and said I haven't seen her since. The Epoch is still there so she didn't use that. Taban went to ask the people in Leene Square if they had seen her around, and they said they didn't so she didn't use the time gate either. Lara went to Truce, Porre, and Choras and she wasn't there, and I went to Medina and the Sun Keep to check but still no luck!"  
  
Hearing that, Crono leaped out of his bed and dragged Marle to where the Epoch was stored, still in his boxers. He threw the girl in the time machine and jumped in after her.  
  
"Crono! Where are we going? She didn't use the gates, that means she's still somewhere here!" Marle yelled.  
  
"Recruiting everyone! If we can't find her here, it wouldn't hurt to try elsewhere, besides, we're sure to find her faster if we tell them."  
  
***  
  
It was minutes later that they saw the familiar huts of Ioka. There, they picked up their ancient friend and by the time they reached Guardia in 600 AD, Ayla had already begun thinking of ways to find Lucca. After they fetched their green-haired soldier, the group went after Robo. They finally found him wandering in Geno Dome with his girlfriend.  
  
"First of all, we should go to the End of Time," suggested Marle.  
  
"Yes, old man there know where Lucca is!" Ayla agreed as Crono piloted the ship towards the small and lonely place.  
  
When they arrived, he was not at the lamp post. Instead, the old man was standing by the gate leading to 65,000,000 BC. The gate's blue light reflected on his face as he took out a strange object from one of his brown pockets.  
  
"I have witnessed the kidnapping of your friend, it was not suppose to happen, but the defeat of Lavos must have altered the course of the future, it was something I did not expect. You can't get to her with the Epoch for she is not in any of the time zones that it can reach. Fortunately, I've made another Chrono Trigger," as the group came closer, they realized that the thing Gaspar took out was actually a time egg."  
  
"But we have no clone! Lucca almost never goes to the fair!" Marle explained sadly as she leaned against the door leading to Spekkio's room.  
  
"I see..... even so, I still might have one more way," all eyes turned to the old man.  
  
"You see, years ago, back in Zeal Palace, I secretly designed a different time egg, one much more powerful than that of the Chrono Trigger. At that time, I had no idea of what it was capable of. Then one day, a visitor from Enhasa came to visit, but he had mysterously vanished the following day. I sensed that it had something to do with the egg because when he had left, he took it with him. I found the egg itself in the Sun Keep a few days later, though. From then on, I had always feared that it would happen again so I planned to destroy it. For some reason, no matter how hard I tried, it didn't have any effect, so I had no choice but to hide it," Gaspar said as he took out another egg from his other pocket. This one was different from the Chrono Trigger, instead of the usual dull color, the egg shone with the dazzling colors of the rainbow, much like the rainbow shell or a prism dress.  
  
How do we get back then?"  
  
"Whoever was responsible for the kidnapping must have created a time gate somehow... you can use the gate to return back."  
  
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go then!" Crono said impatiently as he took the egg from Gaspar's hands.  
  
"Wait Crono!!! Don't you think we should plan this out? Besides, you've got to put on some clothes, who knows what kind of weather it will be when we reach there," Marle snatched the egg back and for the first time, everyone noticed that Crono wasn't wearing anything at all... except his boxers. The boy blushed in embarassment and quickly darted for a safe place to hide, and thus finding none, ran into Spekkio's room. It was a while before he came out, and when he did, everyone stared at him. When things finally settled down though, everyone headed back to the Epoch, and started for Guardia Castle in 1,000 AD.  
  
On the way, a strange mist formed under them and spread across the vast land, and quite soon, it covered the whole continent, but nobody seemed to pay much attention to it. They landed the Epoch and walked towards Marle's room where they thought and planned all day. They spent the night there in the castle, with Ayla and Glenn sleeping on the floor, while Robo found himself a tidy place in the corner and settled there.  
  
It was raining the following day but the team did as they planned. First, they went to the End of Time. There, Gaspar explained more about the time egg and what to look out for.  
  
"Your brainy friend was carried off to what you call your future. I can not tell you what it is like there, you must find that out for yourself, so be prepared for the worst. I can only wish you good luck and return safely."  
  
With that, the old man finished and left the group alone. The place was chaotic for a few minutes, everyone fighting over what to do, but things finally calmed down and everybody was set to go. The party was decided, Crono was the leader and the fighter, Marle was the healer, and Glenn was a bit of both, ending the search trio. There was a bit of a problem at first since this was the first time the knight fought in human form and can no longer use some techs, instead, he mastered some of Cyrus' moves. At last, they were ready.  
  
Marle handed Crono the egg as each of them thought of their destination. What time would it be? What are the monsters like? Is Lucca safe? What is this new evil? Questions flowed in their minds waiting for an answer. The rest of the team wished them luck as party was enveloped in a soft, blue light, much like the colors of the gates. The blue eventually transformed into purple, which turned into red and pink, and soon, all that could be seen were colors of every shade that you can think of. Then all of a sudden, they was gone.  
  
***  
  
The trio landed harshly on a huge, flat rock.  
  
"Owwww.... that hurt," Marle complained, she blinked a few times and realized that they were in a cave of some sort. She stood up, dusted herself, and walked blindly in the darkness, trying to find a way out, instead, she crashed into Glenn and fell face flat on the ground. The pain stunned her for a moment, then heard the soldier groaning somewhere else. A flash lit up the room and the two saw Crono casting Lightning 2. The ground trembled beneath them as they felt something coming out of the ground. Apparently, that was not the right thing to do. A monsterous roar shook the room as the princess saw another flash and discovered the creature was not that large. It actually looked similar to the Evil Weevil in the Reptite Lair. She saw her chance to attack and so did Glenn, they nodded in agreement as she casted her spell and he summoned his to form a gigantic glacier that toppled on top of the enemy. The flash disappeared just as they finished. Then another red light appeared, showing the sign of victory. Throughout the cave Crono had to cast his lightning techs over and over again. When they finally reached the exit, he collapsed with exaustion.  
  
What they saw shocked them. It wasn't wasn't what they expected at all, everything looked perfectly normal and fine. The cave somehow led to a city that was crowded with merchants and shoppers.  
  
"Whoa," Glenn said. Everything was ok until they began to ask for directions and answers.  
  
"Ouch! Hey! These people have no manners," the princess complained as a citizen bumped into her. They walked until they reached a building similar to a dome in Robo's time. They entered the building and what they saw there surprised them even more. There were tons, maybe even hundreds of peoples chained to posts, some are being whipped.  
  
"Who are these people? Why are they doing this? Where are we, a prison? And what time are we in anyways? Marle trembled with anger as she stomped inside the building.  
  
"I... believe that I... kould anssssswer that... my dear... princccessssssss..."  
  
  
  
- Flaming Inferno  
  
I know, I know, the chapter sucked cause I had a writer's block, but I PROMISE, there will be some Magus... a lot of Magus in the next chapter. And some blood too... 


	3. Pangoria

Chrono Trigger and anything that's in it is not mine... Everything else is! Enjoy!  
  
Illusions of Death  
  
Chapter 2: Pangoria  
  
A dark figure slowly made its way across the dangerous, icy mountain. The ripped and ragged clothing was no help in this situation. Finally, able to carry on no more, it collapsed on the harsh land.  
  
***  
  
The first thing the blue-haired sorcerer saw when he awakened was his own reflection. As he stood up in amazement, he realized the old clothes that he wore was gone. It was replaced by a slightly oversized tunic, a deep turquoise colored sash, and normal, black trousers.  
  
"I must admit, it actually looks pretty good on me." He admired the new suit a little longer in what appears to be a mirror. It took a while to finally get his mind focused on his current mission, finding Schala.  
  
"But where am I?" he said, to no one in particular. The magician looked around him. Everything looked the same, it seemed liked he was trapped inside a blue, translucent dome, and the only thing inside was himself and a mirror.  
  
"Jaaaaaanuuuuuusssssssss.................... kooooooom baaaaaaak............... Jaaaaanuuuuussssssss..................."  
  
The magician lifted his head up towards the sky... or ceiling or whatever it was. It sounded like the strange and hollow voice came from nowhere... or everywhere. It sent chills down his spine.  
  
"Jaaaanuuuuusssss......... hooowwwww?!? Whyyyyy?!?!? Anssssssswer meeeeeeeee!!!!! WHYYYYYY???!!!!???"  
  
The hollow voice that was there didn't seem very hollow anymore. The magician tensed up, this was really beginning to frighten him... a little.  
  
"Show yourself, fool! You do not know who your dealing with!" said he, pretending to be brave, but inside, he was just as frightened as a normal human about to be eaten by a vicious tiger or lion.  
  
"YOOOOUUUUUU BEEEEEETRAAAYYYYED MEEEEEE!!!!! AFTER ALLLLLL I HAAAVE DONE FOR YOOUUUU, HOW KOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!? TELL MEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
That last sentence seemed to echo forever in his mind. Betrayed? Betrayed who? Who has done anything for me? Schala? Mother? He was lost, swimming in the ocean of chaos and confusion.  
  
"Quiet! Be QUIET!!! SHUT UP!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!! Be quiet..." it was no use however, his mind was swarming with questions and confusion. It seemed like he was in hell, being tortured for eternity.  
  
"What's wrong? It's only a voice, only a voice. It's not even real!!!! What's happening?!?"  
  
"JAAAAAAANUUUUUSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! JAAAANUUUSSSSS!!!! JAANUUUSSS! JANUS! Janus!!! Wake up!!!" The sorcerer felt a sharp sting on his face as he opened his eyes. He was someplace warm and sunny, it smelled like a meadow. Was it all just a dream? Why was he here? He sat up and squinted, trying to adjust to the bright sunlight. After a few minutes, he focused on the figure next to him. Blue and purple were all that he could see.  
  
" Janus, my dear brother, are you alright?"  
  
"Janus?!? BROTHER?!?!? Only one person in the world would say that... Schala"  
  
"Schala? Schala, is it you? Answer me!!!" Magus reached out blindly at the figure next to him.  
  
"Yes it is me, brother... I have found you at last... You don't know how much I've been through," this moved the magician to a point beyond tears.  
  
"Schala..... I've missed you..... I couldn't find you... anywhere," then, he let loose all of the pain and suffering he had to face when she disappeared and revealed his inner self. He opened his eyes, she was no different when he had last seen her. She still had the same mysterious look in her eyes. Except something was amiss..... her pendant, but he shook it off. Nothing matters anymore, he had finally found her.............. at last.  
  
***  
  
Slience... Pain... More silence... More pain... Lucca slowly opened her eyes, she stood there, in a pool of blood. She couldn't remember a thing after running away from something in the field. She looked about, blood was it. It was all. She was tired, her body ached. She wanted to go to sleep, or even better, she wanted to die. Her spirit had left her. She had nothing left except for the red marks that the whip had left her and the clothes on her very back. Only one thing was on her mind now..... Pangoria.....  
  
- Flaming Inferno  
  
It's been a loooong time since I updated this fic. Sorry if it's a little short. Please R&R!!! 


End file.
